Britains Prince Charles and his longtime love Camilla Parker Bowles postponed their wedding until Saturday to allow him to attend the funeral of Pope John Paul II, the prince's office said.

The timing of the pope's funeral was the latest in a series of snags to beset the wedding between the heir to the throne and Parker Bowles since it was announced in February.

Clarence House, the office of the prince, said Charles took the decision with Parker Bowles after he cut short his skiing trip with his sons William and Harry in the Swiss Alps.

"His Royal Highness the prince will attend the funeral of Pope John Paul II in Rome," a Clarence House spokesman said.

"As a mark of respect His Royal Highness and Mrs Parker Bowles have decided to postpone their wedding until Saturday."

Charles called a meeting immediately after returning from the Swiss resort of Klosters and was said to have been "very keen" to be sensitive about the issue.

No further details have been released for now.

The announcement came shortly after the Vatican announced the funeral for Friday at 10:00 am (0800 GMT) and said the 84-year-old pope, who died on Saturday, would be buried in the crypt of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

Royal watchers had said the queen would likely not make the journey, since she had not attended a state funeral abroad in a decade, and that the best candidate to represent the House of Windsor would have been Prince Charles.

"In the ordinary course of events, it would have to be somebody quite senior.... The likes of somebody like (Prince) Andrew or (Princess) Anne will be missing their brother's wedding. It might be a case of 'duty comes first'," said Joe Little, managing editor of the royal-watchers' Majesty magazine.

The number of wedding guests -- 30 expected for the civil ceremony in Windsor, west of London, and some 700 at the religious blessing and party afterward at Windsor Castle -- was likely to dwindle, as family and dignitaries head to Rome.

Prime Minister Tony Blair has not yet announced whether he will skip the wedding for the pontiff's funeral.

The royal wedding has struggled for two months to happen.

Charles, 56, and Parker Bowles, 57 -- both divorced and with two children each -- first had to rush their wedding announcement on February 10 to avoid being scooped by a British paper.

From the start, since the Church of England will not marry divorces, the couple settled for a civil wedding which they had hoped to hold in Windsor Castle.

However, the couple had to drop plans to marry in the castle when royal aides found out that members of the public would also be allowed to marry there for a period of three years.

Then Queen Elizabeth II announced she would miss the civil wedding ceremony in keeping with the couple's desire for a "low-key" wedding, but royal watchers refused to accept the reason given and many described it as a snub.

A newspaper reported Sunday that the queen could not attend a civil ceremony as supreme governor of the Church of England.

The couple had also faced formal legal objections to their union, but all were dismissed.

Even now, the prince and his fiance face resistance from popular tabloids and members of the public still enamored of Charles's first wife, the late Princess Diana.

Source: Agencies